* Newt Gingrich considers a secular country a “nightmare.” But what kind of government would he replace our secular system with?

* Some religious right powerhouses hosted the “Thanksgiving Family Forum” for six Republican presidential candidates on Saturday night, helping prove the culture war isn’t over.

* An investigation is underway after videotaped police brutality at UC Davis.

* A Republican lobbying firm’s strategy memo offers a peek behind the curtain at the right’s efforts to discredit the Occupy movement and anyone who agrees with its agenda.

And on Saturday, we talked about:

* Last week’s “lazy” attack from Republicans is tied to the strain that brought us the “birther” garbage, the “apologize for America” crap, the “American exceptionalism” meme; and even the incessant nonsense about “socialism.”

* Republicans offered Democrats a debt-reduction deal with a ratio of spending cuts to revenue increases rises of 481 to 1.

* Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) may re-launch her impeachment crusade, even after a huge defeat at the state Supreme Court.

* In “This Week in God,” we covered, among other things, a new agreement the Archdiocese of in Kansas City struck with local law enforcement as part of the Roman Catholic Church’s sexual-abuse scandal.